My Learning Safari: 2018

Our school year here runs from January to December, so it is more like a year-round schedule broken up into four 10-week terms. I joined the team here at the beginning of the final term. Even though I've only been here for one term so far, in some ways I felt like I was celebrating the accomplishments of the whole year with the staff and students. It doesn't take long to see all of the hard work that is being done in the classrooms and how much the students grow and learn each day.

As soon as we got to December, you could hear Christmas hymns being sung from many of the classrooms in the morning. While doing teacher observations, I happened to be in a Pre-Primary 2 classroom (4-year olds) while they worked on making paper chains to decorate their classroom for Christmas. Paper chains may sound like just a fun activity, but it actually requires a lot of skills for little ones. I was so impressed by their ability to follow the directions and make long chains that were strong enough to span the classroom!

Teachers and students continued working hard all the way to the end, which is no easy task when final exams need to be given, report cards are due, and everyone's looking forward to the break.

Pre-primary 2 working on the letter Z in their final weeks
before moving on to kindergarten

Pre-primary 1 working in color and matching centers

The final Thursday afternoon staff training with my teachers.
They're making vocabulary flip books of difficult words from
our Bible study that day - an idea I hope they will use with their
students in their classrooms!

We do a preview of the next week's Bible study and then do a
little content training in math, English, and science. They're
quickly realizing that I'm a math person. The far side of the
board is the beginning of a fraction lesson. Eek! ;)

We also took the opportunity in the last training to surprise the out-going Education Administrator. She has served in this village for almost 9 years in various roles and will continue to serve here as one of my teammates in her role as the widows program coordinator, mini-missions coordinator, and now an assistant dean at the teacher's college (she was eager to take something off of her very full plate). At the end of 2017, she was given very short notice that she would need to become the head of the school because the current leader was retiring. She always says that it was only by the strength and grace of God that she made it through an entire school year. It is not the job that she asked for nor had trained for, but she stepped up to the plate when the school needed her. She did a fantastic job and the teachers have loved working with her. I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to be trained by her and learn from her over the past two months before I fully take on the role. She is a daily blessing to me (and she says I'm an answer to her daily prayer that someone would come take over as the head of school). God's plans continue to amaze me!

Teachers honoring her by wrapping her in local cloth while
singing a traditional Swahili song.

They also gave her a decorated Coke Zero
because they know it's her favorite.

The very next week was the last week of school! It was packed with preparation for the final days. The second to the last day of the year is always Sports Day. They went ahead and handed that event over to me for planning and organizing. I was glad to have the help of some teachers and our oldest students to make it a fun success!

Setting the expectations - we're all in play clothes and it's
meant to be a fun day, but we still need some order ;)

Steal the Bacon

Obstacle course

Water relay

Egg Relays
Aren't those soccer jerseys spiffy?!

Ball toss

Standard 7 Boys

Standard 7 Girls

Toilet Tag

It got hot as the day went on and kids needed a little rest :)

3-Legged Race

Sack Races

The final all-school competition was Maasai, Snake, Mosquito. It's played like Rock, Paper, Scissors. The Maasai (holding his stick and standing on one leg) kills the snake. The Snake (holding his head up) eats the mosquito. The Mosquito (stinging on the arm) beats the Maasai by giving him malaria. Each time a person won, the person they just beat would get behind them as their cheerleader. With each win, the cheerleading squad would get bigger and bigger until there were only two people remaining, each with their cheerleading squad. You can imagine the chaos that ensued. It was great!!!

The first round with partners standing back to back

The chaotic fun began!

The final match came down to a teacher and a student. On 1-2-3-Go! they turned and the student beat the teacher. Cheering erupted! The winning student had the biggest smile on his face. All of the students were so excited for him they started chanting his name. I really thought they were going to pick him up and put him on their shoulders. You would have thought they won the World Cup. What fun!

Then the final day of the 2018 school year came. I also was entrusted with the planning of the final day, which always includes a parent meeting, recitation, and end-of-year awards. For their last time in their current grade level, we lined up on the sports court for morning assembly.

Facing the flag to sing the National Anthem
(I've just about got all the words down)

Don't they look nice?

Recitation and the awards ceremony were held in the gym of our teacher college. It's a great space that we get to use. I was very pleased by how many family members and community members attended. It takes all of us to make sure that these kids are getting the care, support, and education that they need.

Some of our Scout leaders opened the ceremony with the presenting of the flag and singing of the national anthem.

This was the first time that it felt like the job of Education Administrator had been handed over, as I spoke to parents and students and congratulated them on all they had accomplished in 2018.

Speaking with my Head Teacher who also served as my
translator. I am so thankful for him! I couldn't do my job
without him. He's my right-hand man!

After some opening greetings, the student recitations/performances began.

A trio from Standard 6 reciting "O Captain! My Captain!"
by Walt Witman

Standard 2 reciting a Swahili poem:

Standard 4 playing Jingle Bells on recorders:

Standard 1 reciting a Matter poem:

Standard 1 singing a Matter song:

Standard 1 reciting a Weather poem:

Standard 1 singing a Weather song:

All pre-primary levels singing Joy to the World:

After performing their song, Pre-Primary 3 students stayed on the stage to receive their achievement awards. They have successfully completed pre-primary school and are moving on to primary school.

So proud!

They liked their awards so much. I actually saw one of the little boys still wearing his the next day. It was adorable!

All of the PP3s with their teacher. Well done!

We then moved on to other awards, which included A-B Honor Roll, All A's Dean's List, Most Improved, and Christian Character.

The older ones get a little bashful

The little ones eat it up!

Note the one proudly displaying her award upside down;
she doesn't care one bit. Our pre-primary students are the cutest!

The finale was left for our oldest students in Standard 7. They had two songs to perform and then we awarded them for successfully completing primary school. They're moving on to secondary school, Form 1. Here they are singing I Need You to Survive:

Some of the mamas and aunties surprised them with
beautiful leis. It was a really sweet touch!

Then we called it a wrap! Bites were served at the dining hall, which was greatly enjoyed by all. Parents could meet with teachers if they had any questions about grades. And with that, it was officially the end of the 2018 school year!